Bye, Bye Junior

            As the New Orleans Saints prepare for the upcoming season, they’ll be doing it without pass rusher Junior Galette. After an embarrassing offseason that featured a domestic violence allegation (later dropped) and the emergence of a video that apparently showed Galette hitting a woman with a belt, the Saints released him last week. The legal and moral issues in the case are clear; it was time for Galette to go. Galette’s behavior since his release—including accusing Saints head coach Sean Payton of being an alcoholic and a drug addict—offers some post-facto justification for his release. But what I want to talk about here is how this affects the Saints on the field and in the future.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. 

            In terms of next season, the Saints will be without their best pass-rusher. Last season the Saints finished 26^th in the NFL in adjusted sack rate, knocking down opposing passers on 6% of their dropbacks. Galette himself represented much of the Saints anemic pass rush—10 sacks of the 34 accumulated by Saints defenders. In the draft, the Saints selected Hau’Oli Kikaha with their second pick. The outside linebacker was expected to line up with Galette and bolster the Saints pass rush. Without Galette even more of the pass rushing responsibilities will fall on the young rookie. Additionally they will have to rely on recently signed defensive lineman Anthony Spenser (formerly of the Dallas Cowboys). Although relying on aging free agent signings seems like a bad plan to harass opposing quarterbacks. In the absence of Galette, Saints defensive coordinator/Wolfman Rob Ryan may fall back on his favorite strategy: blitzing. Even though the best defensive performance of last season, a 44-23 defeat of the Packers, featured the Saints rarely blitzing. In other words, get ready for opposing quarterbacks to have a lot of time in the pocket next year.

I'll use an excuse to put a photo of Rob Ryan on the blog

             The Galette release also hurts the Saints salary cap in 2015 and especially 2016. Due to general manager Mickey Loomis’s penchant for backloading contracts, the Saints have sat strained against the salary cap over the past several seasons—trading or releasing productive veterans in order to clear out salary, while trying to compete for a Super Bowl in the last years of quarterback Drew Brees’s contract. Currently Galette’s contract counts $12.1 million dollars against the 2016 cap. To understand how the Saints got into this situation we need to look at the contract extension he signed back in November. The contract was worth $41.5 million with $23 million in guaranteed money. In its most basic form, NFL contracts contain three different kinds of money: base salary (not guaranteed), roster bonuses (guaranteed), and signing bonuses (guaranteed). In 2015, Galette carried a $5.5 million dollar cap hit, with a $12.5 million roster bonus (the bulk of his guaranteed money) set to kick in the following year. The Saints planned then take that roster bonus and convert it into a signing bonus, allowing them to spread the cost over the remaining years of his contract. Since his release and the termination of his contract, Galette’s bonus money now accelerates onto the Saints 2016 salary cap. Following Galette’s release, the Saints now sit $11.1 million over the 2016 salary cap. With quarterback Drew Brees carrying a $27 million cap hit next year, the Saints will either be forced to trade their star player sign him to an extension.

Extend or trade?

             The release of Galette highlights the pitfalls of Loomis’s strategy. Backloading contracts can open up salary cap space, but if they go bad, the damage can last years.